Simms turns to music while serving time

Simms's problem with alcohol led to him to crime, and in 1968 he was sentenced to seven years' jail at the notorious Bathurst prison in western NSW for burglary.

At the time, the Bathurst prison was no place for the faint-hearted. The regime was brutal, the conditions atrocious and oppressive.

"You had to be as tough as the rules to survive," Simms said.

As a way of coping, he started to write some verse.

He had melodies in his head and after buying a guitar for two packets of tobacco from a fellow inmate, he taught himself how to play.

In 1970, prisoners at the jail rioted over the conditions. Soon after, a group of visitors from a Sydney charity came to see for themselves what life was like at the prison.

While they were there they heard Simms singing and playing his guitar in the yard. Once again, it was an impromptu moment that would alter the course of Simms's life.

"The governor called me in and said: 'You're going to Long Bay Prison," Simms said.

"You've got to go there and sign a contract with RCA. They want to record a 10-track album."

RCA had been contacted by one of the charity members who'd heard Simms sing.

In 1973 a group of session musicians arrived at Bathurst jail, along with a mobile studio to record Simms' first album, The Loner.

"We set up, we never even had a rehearsal," remembers Simms. "They said: 'This is it'. So we got it done, we got it done in an hour."

The 10 tracks were largely protest songs, recording the stories of life for Aboriginal people in the 1960s.

I doubt if you'd agree with me, or if you'd understand,

Until that day, for guys like me, I'm a stranger in my land.

The Loner - Vic Simms

'That's it, The Loner dream has gone'

In 1974 the prisoners at Bathurst jail rioted again, this time inflicting $10 million worth of damage. At the time, Simms was a much-needed good news story for Corrective Services and he was allowed to do a promotional tour for his album.